Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that India and Israel are the two countries which don’t want a “strong” Pakistan and want the country to “disintegrate” into several parts.
“I want to state it with regret that even the US doesn’t want to see Pakistan emerging as a strong country,” Khan remarked during a speech at a public meeting in Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“There were celebrations next door in India when my government was ousted (in a no-confidence motion in April),” Khan claimed at the rally. Khan, a cricket world cup-winning captain-turned-politician, was removed in a no-confidence vote on 9 April.
Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) political party, claimed that Indian media was “particularly happy” about his removal from the prime ministership.
“It appeared as if not Shehbaz Sharif, but Shehbaz Singh (Singh is a common Indian last name), had come to power in Pakistan,” Khan mockingly stated.
“The Indians were celebrating as if someone among themselves had become the new Prime Minister of Pakistan,” he added.
Khan alleged that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a “deep connection” with the Sharif family.
“(Indian Prime Minister) Narendra Modi was invited to a wedding at their home,” Khan recalled, referring to the Indian leader’s unannounced stopover in Lahore in December 2015.
Back then, Modi attended the wedding of the granddaughter of ex-Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif, the brother of current leader Shehbaz.
During the speech, Khan also reiterated his allegation against US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, who reportedly summoned Asad Majeed, the Pakistani ambassador to Washington, on 7 March.
Khan claims that Wu warned the Pakistani envoy of “consequences” if he survived the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly, which was tabled by then Leader of Opposition Shehbaz Sharif on 8 March
“This was a conspiracy against the people of Pakistan,” Khan stated.
Khan also jogged the memory of his supporters present at Friday’s event, as he recalled that “around 400 drone attacks” had been carried out by the US on Pakistani soil between 2008 and 2018 before his PTI party came to power.
“We were fighting their war (War on Terror in Afghanistan) and they were mounting attacks on our people. The government of the day didn’t say anything,” Khan remarked at the rally.
Khan has been critical of former PM Nawaz Sharif for involving Islamabad in the US-led War on Terror, which he says resulted in immense collateral damage to Pakistani civilians.
India has so far refused to comment on the recent political developments in Pakistan. Islamabad downgraded its trade and diplomatic ties with New Delhi in 2019, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government decision to scrap the semi-autonomous status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir region is controlled by the two nuclear-armed neighbours in parts, but claimed in entirety by both of them.
Israel and Pakistan, on the other hand, don’t enjoy formal diplomatic ties.
The US, for its part, denies charges of “political interference” and instigating a “regime change” in Pakistan.